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For a couple of years now, my wife's car (2012 Hyundai Sonata) has suffered from very slow leaks in both front tires. You can pump them up, but after six weeks or so, the low-pressure warning comes on. The guy in the tire store wants to be helpful, but he says that when a leak is that small, he can't detect it. The auto dealer says that a possible cure would be to grind the bead (where the tire seals to the rim) which would cost $45 a wheel, but they don't guarantee any success. I'm wondering if there's a way that a rim can develop a microscopic leak, and you just have to replace it if you want a cure. I suppose it's significant that it affects both front wheels, so it's not likely to be a fault in either tire. Any ideas?
There are a couple of possibilities one might be the bead as you mentioned. Also it is possible for wheels to leak, if they are cast aluminum they can have porosity.
I've found many tiny leaks with a spray bottle and soapy liquid. Pull the tire off, air it up to max pressure and start spraying. Eventually the bubbles do appear. I've never not found a leak I was looking for.
Of course, I make it sound easy. If you don't have the means or confidence to take a tire off the car, you can certainly do it on the car but it won't be as effective.
I don't like the tub method because 1) I often don't have a tub big enough, and 2) if the leak is really small the bubbles may be hard to see or collect on the underside in a pocket. They sometimes also get confused with air that was trapped on the tire when you submerged it and now releasing
Alloy wheels have improved in the last few decades, but it's not uncommon for them to have leaks anywhere across the rim bed. Have a good wheel shop check them and, if necessary, seal them.
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You show living in the Northeast ... salt can corrode aluminum wheels. My daily driver was a family member's car from Ohio and it was seldom washed during the Winter. 3 of the 4 aluminum wheels/tires had bead leaks. After several "grinding sessions" it appears that the issue has been resolved (fingers crossed).
I've found many tiny leaks with a spray bottle and soapy liquid. Pull the tire off, air it up to max pressure and start spraying. Eventually the bubbles do appear. I've never not found a leak I was looking for.
Of course, I make it sound easy. If you don't have the means or confidence to take a tire off the car, you can certainly do it on the car but it won't be as effective.
I don't like the tub method because 1) I often don't have a tub big enough, and 2) if the leak is really small the bubbles may be hard to see or collect on the underside in a pocket. They sometimes also get confused with air that was trapped on the tire when you submerged it and now releasing
How do you use a spray bottle on the inside rim because you can’t really see the whole tire even after cocking your wheels to the left or the right. I’ve always had a tire shop check my tires for slow leaks because if it’s at the rim they can break the tire free from the rim with their mounting machine and apply tire dressing to the rim to seal it and remount tire back onto the rim. It’s the only way to fix a rim leak can’t do it at home by hand how you going to seperate tire from the rim and fill tire up again with air unless you have a tire rack machine and a air compressor at your house.
I would agree with a dirty or scuffed bead, or slightly bent rim that could be causing this. The $45 would pay for shop time to dismount the tire, grind it smooth, and remount the tire. This may fix it if dirty or scuffed, but will likely do nothing if the rim is bent.
I would agree with a dirty or scuffed bead, or slightly bent rim that could be causing this. The $45 would pay for shop time to dismount the tire, grind it smooth, and remount the tire. This may fix it if dirty or scuffed, but will likely do nothing if the rim is bent.
You can see a bent rim unlike the old steel rims you cannot bend back a alloy rim have to get new rims.
Did the tire shop even LOOK at your tires? After having the light on weekly whether we filled the tire or not - and we did, again and again and again, we went to Firestone. They gave us a song and dance about a 2 hour wait and the car up on the thing and come back and blah blah blah. Then we pulled off the road to a place with a hand lettered sign (like AB tires) in front of what looked like a condemned home garage painted purple and a Mexican guy came out, took our tire off, turned it in his hands, occasionally flicking away a bit of gravel and after a minute or two pointed to a bent nail head. Got a pliers, pulled it out (it was shocking how long it was), patched the spot, $15 cash only and the light hasn't come on since.
How do you use a spray bottle on the inside rim because you can’t really see the whole tire even after cocking your wheels to the left or the right. I’ve always had a tire shop check my tires for slow leaks because if it’s at the rim they can break the tire free from the rim with their mounting machine and apply tire dressing to the rim to seal it and remount tire back onto the rim. It’s the only way to fix a rim leak can’t do it at home by hand how you going to seperate tire from the rim and fill tire up again with air unless you have a tire rack machine and a air compressor at your house.
I always pull the wheel off before I spray it with a soapy mix to check for leaks. You are correct, you can only check one side (outside, and not very good either) while wheel is mounted on the vehicle.
I don't bother any more, but have also fixed the bead myself. With a little work you can break a bead down. Plenty of lub (soapy water), a 2x4 or 6 up against each side of the tire where it meets the rim, large C clamp and a few minutes of time. Once it's free of the rim, push it down and clean the heck out of the rim where it was leaking. Usually a rough spot that you can easily find. A bit of sandpaper, small polishing wheel, etc. to smooth the rim/bead area, then air the tire up.
In the field when I was in the military, we would fix a flat by using the board method and another vehicle to run up on the board to break down the tire bead on the rim. A jack also worked by placing the wheel up against the truck's bumper and jacking the board into the bead.
You can see a bent rim unlike the old steel rims you cannot bend back a alloy rim have to get new rims.
There are several places around here that fix bent alloy rims. We had my son's rim fixed by such a shop. I think it was about 75 bucks and it was polished and looked as good as new. Almost made me want to do all of them to make them uniformly shiny. That was over two years ago, still doing fine.
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